Safety cranking device



C. T. DUSTER.

SAFETY CRANKING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 1919.

Patented Nov. 23, 1920.

I N VEN TOR.

WITNESS.- l

BYWMKH l7 TTORNEYJ' PATENT OFFICE.

UNITED STATES meant.

asses cinematic DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented NOV. 23,

Application filed that 7, 191%). seal a. serial.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that LCnnMM T. Cusrnn, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Mar tinsburg, in the county of Berkeley and State of West Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements'in Safety trankingDevices, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates tocranking devices,

and more particularly to a device of the "sait'ety type specially adapted for use in connection with internal combustion engines of automobiles.

One of the main objects of the invention to provide a device of the character stated of simple construction and operation, and which may bereadily applied to an auto mobile of standard construction. A further object isto provide a cranking shaft in conj uncti on with. an arm for rotating the shaft in proper direction to crank the engine, simple and efficient means being provided for operatively connecting the arm to the shaft, this connecting means being adapted to permit free reverse rotation of the shaft upon "khiking or backfiring of the engine. Further objects will appear from the detailed description. 1 in the drawings: a Figure 1 is a side. view,partly in section, of a cranking device constructedin accord ance with my inventiomas applied.

Fig. is a section taken substantially on line :2 2 of Fig; 1, the crank arin being shown as positively locked to the cranking shaft.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, the means for connecting the arm to the cranking shaft being shown innnlocked ornormal condition.

Fig. l; is a central'vertical section through the housing for the cranking shaft disk.

Fig. is a cross section on line 5-5 through Fig. 52. p

This device is adapted to be used in connection with a cranking shaft 1 rotatably supported in a bearing sleeve 2 secured upon the lower bar of a radiator supporting frame. designated generally by 5, in the usual manner. This shaft is slidable longitudinallv through sleeve 2 and is provided on its inner end with a clutch member 6 adapted to engage the usual pin 7 extending diametrically through engine shaft 8, wlnch is displaced in axial alinement with shaft 1,

this shaft being normally held in its outer orinoperative position by an expansion coil springforming the crankingshaft into its inner position so as to bring clutch niember 6 into operative engagementwith pin '1, and rotating this shaft in a clockwise direction, the engine may cranked or startedin the well known manner. Shaft 1 is provided, at its outer end, with a relatively thick integral disk 10. This disk fits snugly within acylindrical housing 11 provided at its outer side with a re movable cover 12 to permit ready assembly of the parts. This housing is also provided at its inner side, with an integral collar 13 which forms anabutment .member of the outer end of spring 9, the inner end of which bears against the outer end of sleeve 2. Housing 11 is integral with a crank arm 1a, which is formed to provide a longitudinally extending tubular member or cylinder 15, which is disposed tangentially to the. lionsing. A suitable gripping member or handle 16 is secured to the outer end of arm 14-. for rotating the same. y y

A bolt 17 is slidably mounted ontheinner portion of cylinder 15, the inner end of this colt is adapted for engagement with shoulder 1.8 formed upon disk bycutting away a portion of the disk from the periphery thereof. as at 19. As will benoted more clearly from Fig. 2, the innerwall 1.9 of the cutout or recess 19 is disposed at a tangent to housing 11 and shaft 1 and when the parts are in the position of this figure has the same angular relation thereto as cylinder 15, the flat face 18 of shoulder 18 being disposed radially of the shaft. This insures that when the dis z 10 and cylinder are in the relative positions illustrated in Fig. 2 the inner end portion of the bolt will fit snugly into recess 19 so as to lock the housing 11 and disk 10 together. Usually the bolt and disk are held in this engagement by a spring 21 hereinafter described. But the connection may be made unyielding at will by inserting a transverse pin 20 through a hole in said bolt and registering holes in cylinder llig. 2 shows this pin, but t will be required only occasionally and in special circumstances.

Normally, bolt 17 is mounted so as to be nmvable outwardly in cylinder 15, being forced into its inner or operative position by an expansion coil spring 21 mounted in cylinder 15. This spring 1s confined bet-ween the outer end of the bolt and an adjusting disk 22 mounted in the outer end portion of the cylinder and adjustable inwardly thereof by an adjusting screw 23 threaded through the outer end of the cylinder. In practice, the compression of spring 21 is so adjusted that, when the arm 14 is turned in the direction indicated, the inner end of bolt 17 will be held in engagement With the outer rounded corner 18 of shoulder 18 with suffioient force to overcome the normal pressure in the cylinders of the engine When starting the same. This permits the shaft 1 to be rotated in the well known manner for cranking or starting the engine. In the event of excessive pressure being exerted upon the engine shaft 8 so as to rotate it in a reverse or counter-clockwise direction, such as would be caused by kicking or backiiring of the engine, the bolt 17 will be forced outwar lly in cylinder 15 so as to permit a complete free rotation of disk 10, thus avoiding danger of injury to the operator. As the bolt 17 is disposed tangentially to disk 10 and, due to the provision of the rounded outer corner 18 of shoulder 18, this release of the disk will be smooth and free from all sudden jerk and jars such as would be apt to occur if the bolt were disposed radially of the disk. Also, the spring 21 acts as a cushion to absorb any shocks incident to this automatic release of the disk, so that the provision of the tangentially disposed reciprocable spring pressed bolt in conjunction with the shouldered disk effectually eliminates all danger of injury to the operator, while providing a comparatively inexpensive safety crank device of simple construction which maybe readily applied.

What I claim is:

1. In a device of the character described, a housing, a disk mounted therein and provided with a substantially radially disposed shoulder, an arm projecting from said housing for rotating the same, a cylinder carried by the arm and communicating at its inner end with the housing, said cylinder being disposed tangentially to the housing, a member slidable in the cylinder and projecting into the housing so as to engage the shoulder, and an expansion coil spring mounted in said cylinder and confined between the outer end thereof and said slidable member for normally holding the slidable member in projected position.

2. In a hand cranking device of the character described, a rotatable disk having a notched periphery, a cranking handle rotatable independently of the disk and disposed tangcntially to the periphery of said disk, and a latch device carried by said handle, and movable tangentially to the periphery of said disk for positive locking engagement in the notch therein.

3. In a hand cranking device of the char acter described, a peripherally notched disk, a handle rotatably connected with the disk and disposed tangentially to the periphery thereof, a guide housing on the handle, a latching device mounted in the housing and movable tangentially relative to the periphery of the disk for detachable engagement in the notch in said periphery, and means engageable with the latch to hold the same in positive engagement with the disk.

4. In a hand cranking device of the character described, a peripherally notched disk, a handle rotatably connected with the disk and disposed tangentially to the periphery thereof, a guide housing on the handle, a latching device mounted in the housing and movable tangentially, relative to the periphery of the disk for detachable engagement in the notch in said periphery, and means engageable with the latch to hold the same in positive engagement with the disk, and a housing on the handle to inclose said disk.

5. In a hand cranking device a rotatable disk, a hand crank rotatably supported relative to the disk and disposed tangentially to the periphery thereof, and latching means carried on the hand crank and movable tangentially to the periphery of the disk for positive engagement therewith.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CLEMM T. CUSTER. lVitnesses JOHN H. ZIRKLE, CHARLES M. LAMAR.

l ll 

